Esanda Car Loans (ANZ and Macquarie Bank) Flex Commission Class Action
The class action concerns flex commissions paid by ANZ to car dealers. ANZ allowed car dealers to set the interest rates on consumers’ car loans. The higher the interest rate set by a dealer, the higher the flex commission paid by ANZ to the dealer. The class action alleges that flex commissions were unfair and unlawful and resulted in consumers paying higher interest rates on their loans then they otherwise would have done.
Group members had a consumer car loan arranged through a car dealer between 1 January 2011 and 31 March 2016 on which a flex commission was paid by ANZ to the car dealer.
Proposed settlement
The parties have agreed to settle the Esanda car loans (ANZ and Macquarie Bank) flex commission class action for $85 million including legal costs. The proposed settlement has been agreed on a no admission of liability basis.
The settlement is subject to approval of the Court. The Court will conduct a hearing on Friday, 9 May 2025 at 10:30am to decide whether to approve the proposed settlement and, if approved, how the settlement sum will be distributed to group members.
If the Court approves the proposed settlement, it will bind all group members, except those who opted-out of the proceeding.
Notice of proposed settlement
Potential group members were sent a notice about the proposed settlement via email between 11 and 14 February 2025. The notice was sent from either of the following email addresses:
A copy of the notice is available here.
Options
If you are a group member, you may:
1. REGISTER: If you would like to participate in the proposed settlement, you must register by 14 March 2025. If you have already registered, there is no need to do so again.
2. DO NOTHING: If you do not register by 14 March 2025, you will not be entitled to any money from the proposed settlement, if approved, but you will still be bound by it. This means that any claims you may have had the subject of, or related to, the class action will be extinguished.
3. OBJECT: If you would like to object to the proposed settlement, you may do so by completing a notice of objection and emailing it to esandaflexca@mauriceblackburn.com.au by 10 March 2025.
A notice of objection form is available here.
Any group member who objects may (but is not obliged to) appear before the Court at the hearing of the application to approve the proposed settlement on 9 May 2025. Any objections will be considered by the Court in determining whether to approve the proposed settlement. If you want to object to the proposed settlement, but nevertheless participate in it if your objection is overruled and the proposed settlement is approved, you should register as set out above.
FAQs for Esanda car loans (ANZ and Macquarie Bank) flex commission class action
If you received a notice of proposed settlement, you have either:
- been identified as a potential group member in the class action by ANZ; or
- have previously registered for the class action.
If the Court approves the proposed settlement, the settlement sum will be distributed to registered, eligible group members pursuant to a settlement distribution scheme. A copy of the proposed settlement distribution scheme is available here. It is subject to approval by the Court. The settlement distribution scheme aims to deliver a simple, fair and cost-effective way to distribute the settlement funds to registered, eligible group members.
Under the proposed settlement distribution scheme, the settlement sum will not be divided equally between registered, eligible group members. This is because the group members’ claims have different values, risks and complexities associated with them.
We are unable to provide group members with an estimate of the amount of money they will receive if found eligible to participate in the proposed settlement. This is because any amount of compensation they receive will depend on a range of factors, including the:
- number of group members who register to participate in the proposed settlement;
- terms of their loan contract;
- date on which they entered their car loan contract.
At this stage, we are unable to tell registered, eligible group members when they will receive compensation.
The Court will be asked to approve the following deductions from the settlement sum before the remainder is distributed to registered, eligible group members.
Legal costs:
The Court has made a ‘group costs order’ of 24.5% in this proceeding. This means that Maurice Blackburn will be paid 24.5% of the settlement sum (i.e., $20,825,000) for legal costs and the risks it took in running the class action from August 2020 to 9 May 2025. The Court may adjust the group costs order if it considers it appropriate to do so.
Plaintiff’s reimbursement payment:
The Court has been asked to approve a reimbursement payment of $30,000 to the Plaintiff to compensate him for his time associated with acting as the Plaintiff in the class action.
Settlement administration costs:
The Court will be asked to appoint Maurice Blackburn as the settlement administrator to implement the settlement distribution scheme.
We estimate that there will be up to $3.5 million in settlement administration costs associated with implementing the settlement distribution scheme.
You will never be asked to pay any costs out of your own pocket.
The Court has made a group costs order of 24.5% in the class action. This means that Maurice Blackburn will be paid 24.5% of the settlement sum for legal costs and the risk it took it running the class action. The amount of the group costs order will be deducted from the settlement sum before the remainder is distributed to eligible, registered group members.
The Court will also be asked to approve the Plaintiff's reimbursement payment and settlement administration costs as outlined above.
If you have any questions regarding the above, you can contact our team on:
We are experiencing a high volume of enquiries. If you are intending to register to participate in the proposed settlement (and have not registered previously) you must do so by 14 March 2025. Please do not wait to hear from us before registering to participate in the proposed settlement.
Westpac & St George Flex Commission Class Action and Macquarie Leasing Flex Commission Class Action
These class actions concern flex commissions paid by Westpac, St. George and Macquarie Leasing to car dealers. Westpac, St. George and Macquarie Leasing allowed car dealers to set the interest rates on consumers’ car loans. The higher the interest rate set by a dealer, the higher the flex commission paid by Westpac, St. Geroge or Macquarie Leasing to the dealer. The class actions allege that flex commissions were unfair and unlawful and resulted in consumers paying higher interest rates on their loans then they otherwise would have done.
Group members had a consumer car loan arranged through a car dealer between 1 March 2013 and 31 October 2018 with Westpac, St. George and/or Macquarie Leasing.
Joint trial
The joint trial of these class actions was heard before the Honourable Justice Dixon of the Supreme Court of Victoria between 14 October 2024 and 21 November 2024.
Justice Dixon has reserved his decision. We expect him to deliver judgment sometime in 2025. The results of any judgment will be published on this webpage.
Contact the team
If you need to update your contact details, please email the team on Flexclassaction@mauriceblackburn.com.au with your new contact details. Make sure you put “Change in Contact Details” in the subject line of your email.
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Australian leaders in class actions.
Our reputation for excellence in class actions is unparalleled, having recovered more than $4.3 billion for clients.
We are the only Australian class actions firm to deliver $100m+ settlements to clients in shareholder and listed securities actions, which we have done on ten occasions.
Lower cost to clients
Biggest recoveries
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